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= The Even Yearbook 15 (2022)

== #117

''volume:'' [[:2022|15 (2022)]] \\ 
''pages:'' 40–49 \\ 
''author:'' [[:Marcel den Dikken]] \\ 
''title:'' ‘They are what define us’, ‘You are what make us great’: Plural-agreeing //what// in free relatives serving as predicates \\ 
''DOI:'' http://doi.org/10.57133/evenyrbk.22di \\ 
''keywords:'' free relative, headless relative, what, plural agreement, silent noun, licensing \\ 
''abstract:'' This paper explores the syntax of number agreement in sentences of the type //They are what define us,// in which a free relative serves as the predicate of a plural subject and the //what// introducing the relative controls plural agreement with the finite verb of the relative clause (something that //what// cannot do elsewhere in English). The key to the explanation for the number agreement facts is the postulation of a plural silent noun ‘THINGS’ as the head of the relative clause. The fact that this silent noun is subject to licensing requirements accommodates the distributional restrictions imposed on the construction. The hypothesis that plural-agreeing //what// is the exponent of the combination of the silent noun and the operator in the relative clause accounts for the fact that plural-agreeing //what// relatives exist in English but not in closely related Dutch. \\ 
''PDF:'' [[this>_media/22di.pdf|   full text]] \\ 
''raw text:'' [[22di-raw]] \\ 
''refs:'' ++ ⟨BibTeX⟩ | \\ ''@article{even22di, \\        author  = {Marcel {den Dikken}}, \\      title   = {‘{T}hey are what define us’, ‘{Y}ou are what make us great’: {P}lural-agreeing //what// in free relatives serving as predicates}, \\      year    = 2022, \\      journal = {The Even Yearbook}, \\      volume  = 15, \\      pages   = {40--49}, \\      url     = {http://seas.elte.hu/w/!even/22di} \\  }''\\ 
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++ ⟨RIS⟩ | \\ ''TY  - JOUR \\ AU  - den Dikken,Marcel \\ 		PY  - 2022/​/​/ \\ TI  - ‘They are what define us’, ‘You are what make us great’: Plural-agreeing //what// in free relatives serving as predicates \\ T2  - The Even Yearbook \\ VL  - 15 \\ SP  - 40 \\ EP  - 49 \\ UR  - http://seas.elte.hu/w/!even/22di \\ 
 ER  -''\\ 
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++ ⟨txt⟩ | \\ '' den Dikken, Marcel. 2022. ‘They are what define us’, ‘You are what make us great’: Plural-agreeing //what// in free relatives serving as predicates. The Even Yearbook 15: 40–49. http://seas.elte.hu/w/!even/22di''
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